We're in The New York Times on April 30, 2008.

Pollo Papantla

I'll be on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Monday, May 5 from 10:00-11:00AM to talk

about Cinco de mayo and answer your questions.  Tune in, call in and let's have fun!

I had a great time shooting this piece for the History Channel's Holiday History section of their website:

New York Magazine's Grub Street Neighborhood Watch (4/18/2008) reports that we have the best margarita.

Of course, you knew that!

Midtown East: After a long, sunny day spent indoors, "you deserve a treat, a salty, sour, and sweet treat that comes in a glass as big as your head and can knock you on your ass." Zarela, on Second Avenue, might make the best margarita, according to this roundup, but there are eight other spots here where you can take that cute "co-worker who just so happens to love tequila." [Gridskipper]

Blender, an indispensable piece of equipment in a Mexican kitchen

When electricity finally comes to a remote village in Mexico, one of the first things people buy is a blender. It replaces the labor-intensive molcajete and metate and lightens the work load of many a housewife especially when making chile-based and other cooking sauces. However, a regular blender does not completely grind the chiles and other ingredients so it is necessary to pass the puree through a sieve to remove the pulp --not a favorite cooking chore and a great deterrent for anyone contemplating making a multi-step, complex sauce such as mole. The Vita Mix blender is the ONLY blender that I've worked with that eliminates this time-consuming task. This is the primary reason I've decided to sell this product on my website but you will discover that it is a treasure when making drinks, soups and recently I discovered that I can make corn fllour from toasted corn kernels for making my delicious pimpo cookies from Oaxaca.

People ask me why I insist on a blender for grinding chiles and making sauces instead of using a food processor. The answer is that they each have their uses. The food processor is great for chopping nuts, herbs, making bread crumbs, shredding cheese and many other things depending on what attachments you have but it will never grind chiles because it has a "tearing" instead of grinding action so if you want to cook Mexican food, you'll need a blender and you may as well have the best.

I've never sold or endorsed anything but this is an extraordinary product. Vita-Mix are more expensive that regular store-bought blenders but are worth every penny and will last you a lifetime.  They now have a three payment plan and remember to mention my name when ordering and you will get free shipping.

Zarela